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Oil spill

Ok, what's wrong with this plan to reduce (not stop) the oil from flowing until the relief wells are drilled?

They apparently can use a saw to cut the pipe. Apparently the saw blade is such that the pressure doesn't bend the blade too much while cutting thru. They could cut a slit into the pipe about 1/3 (more or less) thru and then insert a metal plate configured to the shape of the inside of the pipe to reduce the flow? Sorta like a gate valve. This alone would reduce the amount of flow by as much as 50%+, and possibly reducing the pressure, then use the cap to collect even more.

I know there are some smart people on here, so, what am I missing?

Hank

Reply to
Hustlin' Hank
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It sounds workable to me. . . but. . . . It appears that they are afraid to *stop* the flow. I don't know if that is corporate greed, or fear that if they *plug* this hole the well pressure could blow a totally unstoppable hole someplace else. [BTW- I know as little or less than you about the whole deal- just what I've seen and read in the last 2 months]

Jim [watched the debut of HBOs Gasland last night & I'm not sure natural gas is the perfect answer as it once looked to me]

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

...

There are downhole leaks as well already; major contributing reason the "top kill" didn't work was couldn't put enough mud down fast enough to overcome it coming out elsewhere. ...

Indeed using NG for major oil replacement is, indeed, very short-sighted use of that resource imo (as I've commented here numerous times ere this...)

--

Reply to
dpb

In article , Jim Elbrecht wrote: ?

The first couple of rounds was trying to stop the flow. Remember they were trying to cap it. Current attempt at a solution is to drill and then cap relief wells to stop it. The main head was just so shredded that capping it wasn't an option.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

A week after the sinking of the rig, I was wondering why they didn't pinch the pipe shut somewhere close to the well-head (maybe 10 or 20 feet from the well head) just to stop the flow and give them time to figure out their next move. I posted this on another newsgroup, and someone else figured out the pressures required - 435 tons (apparently the pipe is 21" diameter and 1" thick wall). The pressures required were within the capability of the remote equipment that they can send down there.

And ever since there was talk about drilling relief wells, I'm wondering why these wells need to be drilled so far away from the site of this dammages well head. You'd think that it would be easier and faster to drill a relief well maybe a few hundred yards, or up to 1/4 mile away from the dammaged well.

See also:

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Reply to
Some Guy

Smitty Two wrote in news:prestwhich- snipped-for-privacy@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com:

from what I've read,they are afraid that the well will begin leaking from around the pipe and the earth around it;they were -supposed- to use a double pipe to prevent that,but got a waiver to use only a single 7" pipe.

well,let's hear it.

there are separator ships that Norway and the Netherlands offered to send,but Comrade Obama turned them down. This is another crisis he is exploiting,ala Alinsky; "never let a good crisis go to waste".

Reply to
Jim Yanik

They could put a big cork on the end of a torpedo and fire it into the well.

Reply to
LSMFT

Which is only part of the equation. In order to pinch it off, you not only have to apply enough pressure to pinch off the pipe, but also enough to overcome the pressure of the stuff running out. MUCH more to work against that.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

I think the more reasonable scenario here is don't piss off the unions since the law about US Flagged vessels in US waters is a long-standing sop to the unions.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

The story as I understand it is that if the flow was completely shut off, it would cause the well to rupture at a different point. Never expected that I would begin to understand how oil wells work...I thought ya' just drill a big hole and yell "gusher" :o)

Reply to
norminn

My solution for capturing the oil is to make a huge tank, like a hot air balloon...have no idea of a flexible material that might hold oil. Said balloon has a heavy lead or concrete ring at the base and the ring is lowered over the pipe. "Balloon" fills with oil, rises to surface and is captured. It can have a flexible valve, like a heart valve, to prevent outflow. Line them up and keep filling them until the relief wells are done.

Reply to
norminn

Florida could require everyone with a parking lot to cover parking areas with solar panels on the roofs...cars last longer, free of sun damage, and Florida sells the electricity.

Reply to
norminn

Guess abiding by the law is a consideration now and then. Which also turns on the clean-up fiasco...work 20 min in hot sun in a plastic suit, rest 40 min. More absurd than I can express! How about putting out a stack of snow shovels, buckets and let volunteers scrape up the sand when it ain't so dang hot? Done in cooler time of day, as soon as the tide goes out, it would be fairly simple to accomplish on beaches, and there doubtless would be thousands of volunteers.

Reply to
norminn

They've got 25,000 feet of 21" pipe piled up around the well. It kinda gets in the way.

Plus, there may be some environmental regulation protecting the star-faced mole (which doesn't actually HAVE a face) that they can't overcome.

Reply to
HeyBub

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the relef wells may not work either......

meanwhile theres a hurricane coming, well first tropical; depression of the season named alex........

which will likely pick up oil and dispersant and deposit the toxic brew far inland, stall the relief wells and cap recovery they must be unmanned during hurricane..

and get the gulf waters moving spreading the oil into the loop current and around florida and up the east coast beaches.....

US government is a FAILURE at keeping its citizens safe

Reply to
hallerb

Why? It was waved for Katrina and other disasters. Just not now?

Which also

I think they learned their lessons from 9-11. The original EPA and OSHA mandates said there was nothing there and that there was no need for first responders to use SCBA or other protection. (Which I thought at the time was idiocy) Now they have a long list of ailments and cancers popping up in the responders. It makes sense to put people in long-term contact with the stuff in protective gear. This is consistent with when I worked in the hot end (averaged >110 in the summer) of a glass factory.

How about putting out a

And thousand (probably millions) of people later on suing for all sorts of ailments. ( I say millions based on a study that the NYC transit people did a few years ago. For every bus accident, the average number of suits filed was almost 2x the capacity of the bus.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Presumably this idea was rejected due to the risk of causing the well casing to fail at some point below the sea bed and making the problem even worse.

Two reasons for the distance:

- Room for the vessels and equipment to work over the well itself to try to stop or contain the leak.

- Minimum turning radius that the equipment is capable of drilling at in order to intersect the problem well.

Reply to
Pete C.

Hydraulics scale easily. Constructing a rig capable of pinching a ~2' dia pipe off with 1,000T of force or more wouldn't be a big deal.

Reply to
Pete C.

More like 5,000 feet of pipe, and not that difficult to sling it with the robots and haul it to the surface if it's a problem.

Reply to
Pete C.

Exactly why I mentioned it...

Shoveling up tar balls is very different than the initial slicks. There isn't much hazard, if any, just walking on sand and using a shovel. The heat and humidity are less a factor late in the day.

They can cry "pay me" until the oil is up to their necks and then get jobs at the haz. mat. landfills :o)

Reply to
norminn

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